We all know that when what we are doing isn’t working, we need to try something new. We have a generation in this country who have never seen a functional federal government. Over the past couple of decades, we have watched the Republican party become more and more radical and untethered from their constituents and even reality. We simply cannot trust them to make progress on the issues we care about here in New York, we can’t trust them to do much of anything at all. The morning after the last election I knew we needed to start the work to take this district back. This race is going to be about beating Mike Lawler and that is what I am working to do.
I’m doing this because I believe in us. We can make it better, but it won’t be easy. And that means we need to elect people who will protect New Yorkers and the rest of this country from hate being legislated by gerrymandered supermajorities in other states. People who, when faced with tragedy, will roll up their sleeves, not throw up their hands. People who will protect public education, not ban books. People who will protect the rights of women, not strip us of healthcare and autonomy. People who will work to help the most vulnerable among us, not vilify them. People who will protect our natural resources and encourage innovation. People who will work to solve problems, not perpetuate them for political gain. People who will invest in the future. People who understand that governing is not social media feuds and performance art. People who will tell us the truth, not just what we want to hear.
We can do this. We can do big things. We’re New Yorkers.
Women’s Rights
I believe that every American must be protected by the Constitution, not just those who look like the founding fathers. In 2022, a politicized Supreme Court told 51% of the country that their rights were not worth protecting — and that endangers every one of us.
We still live in an America that has never elected a woman President. Women in the House and Senate make up only about 28% of our legislature – we need to almost double the number of women on Capitol Hill to see adequate representation. In 2022, we saw the first decline in progress toward pay equity for women since 2017. As some states continue to legislate against women and girls, denying us autonomy over our own bodies, some toying with interstate travel restrictions for women or requiring girls to report on their menstrual cycles, it is very clear that we are in an extremely dangerous place.
We have already seen the impact of overturning Roe in decisions released in June 2023 that are chipping away at democracy itself and the founding ideals of our nation. We must codify the protections of Roe. When state governments outlaw reproductive healthcare, women will die – this isn’t about life, it is about control.
Mike Lawler will tell you that he won’t vote for a nationwide abortion ban, but he has voted against the the Women’s Health Protection Act, he has voted for laws that could imprison providers and most recently put our national security at risk by voting for an amendment to the NDAA that bans the military from providing troops with leave and travel costs if they need to travel to get appropriate reproductive healthcare. Mike Lawler is comfortable with women risking their lives to fight for his freedom, but he won’t even fight for their rights. And his party continues to attach anti-woman, anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ amendments to every bill they can, ultimately ensuring nothing at all gets done unless it also restricts our rights.
Commonsense Gun Safety Reform
What Republicans don’t want you to notice is that their refusal to enact common sense gun safety legislation that the vast majority of the country supports results in public schools having to allocate more and more of their budgets to security and you feel that in your tax bill. The cost of gun violence in America is estimated at $557 billion EVERY YEAR – almost $1700 per American. For comparison, in 2021, Medicare spending was $829 billion, or 10% of the federal budget – the cost of our gun violence epidemic is staggering but Republicans don’t want to talk about that. We are actually paying to be less safe in our schools, our houses of worship and our public spaces.
True public safety is not achieved by making schools feel more like prisons, ignoring the need for training and resources for law enforcement, and ensuring people are so angry and afraid they shoot and kill someone who mistakenly pulled into the wrong driveway. Public safety is not about minimizing body count but about working to prevent a tragedy. We should be investing in mental health professionals and social workers, training on violence interruption and deescalation, and access to emergency resources. Mike Lawler and his Republican colleagues want to talk about crime, about backing the police, but never about common sense gun safety legislation that would make our communities and our law enforcement officers safer.
Over the last few years we have heard a lot about cashless bail and defunding the police. I agree that those accused of non-violent crimes should be able to go to work, pay their rent and take care of their children while they await their day in court. We should not be ruining peoples’ lives or their children’s lives if they cannot afford bail. But cashless bail doesn’t make sense for violent offenders. Similarly, “defunding” the police is not a solution any more than only funding police in pursuit of public safety. Complex problems are never solved with slogans. We can be both tough on crime and committed to investing in resources and strategies to prevent it.
In the New York Assembly, Mike Lawler voted against requiring a license for possession of semi-automatic firearms, against authorizing the state to sue gun manufacturers for damages caused by guns, and against requiring social media account disclosure for those applying for a handgun license. While serving in the US House, he has repeatedly called the Trump indictments a weaponization of the Department of Justice. New Yorkers have known for a very long time that Donald Trump has little respect for the law and that accountability is way overdue. We cannot continue to accept leaders who will fear monger around crime but won’t do anything to address our gun violence epidemic and abandon their support for law enforcement when their allies are being held accountable.
Affordability
The Hudson Valley is a beautiful place to live and raise a family but it is increasingly difficult to afford to live here. Caps on deducting state and local taxes, school budgets that have to grow to accommodate enhanced security, unfairness in who bears the costs of congestion pricing, housing shortages all work together to make it harder for families to thrive.
Our communities depend on teachers, nurses, firefighters, police, and EMTs and it is nearly impossible for so many of these essential workers to afford to live in the communities they serve. Across our district right now we have a labor shortage, but the jobs that are unfilled do not pay enough to support a family in this area. We are fortunate to have an extraordinary network of non-profits in this district that help to fill in the gaps for families struggling to keep food on the table or buy school supplies for their children, but a system that relies on donations is extremely vulnerable to economic downturns – when more people need help the most.
The Trump tax plan was a weaponization of the tax code against states that vote for Democrats. New Yorkers consistently send more money in taxes to Washington than we get back and when we’ve needed help, we watched Republicans try to deny funds for 9/11 first responders and block the state from receiving aid in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Political games like these need to stop. Mike Lawler and the Republican party are no friends to New Yorkers, and their record demonstrates that very clearly.
Republicans can not be trusted to do the right thing for us.
Climate Change
For too long, Republicans have denied climate change and worked to protect the interests of fossil fuel companies instead of the American people and future generations. We cannot afford to have people in Congress who “solve” problems by pretending they don’t exist. Natural disasters have become as common in America as mass shootings. This summer we have been choking on wildfire smoke from Canada resulting in apocalyptic orange skies over the Hudson Valley. We are witnessing massive flooding, droughts and storms, dangerous heat waves, communities destroyed by tornadoes and hurricanes, houses falling into the ocean and new dangers posed by fungus and bacteria. We are ill equipped to deal with the challenges the future holds— something that impacts every American — and Republicans simply aren’t interested. We need leadership focused on our shared future and committed to making progress.
We must be building for climate resilience, investing in infrastructure that can withstand our new reality, and green energy. Investments like these will mitigate the damage caused by natural disasters and pay off when disaster strikes. We must protect our fresh water, encourage innovation in food systems and sustainability, and make every effort both at home and working with other nations to take steps to mitigate the impact of climate change we are witnessing in real time.
We cannot trust our future and our children’s futures to a former oil & gas lobbyist like Mike Lawler.
